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219th Lane to be paved by Wicks Construction

Wicks Construction is scheduled to begin paving 219th Lane with concrete in late May. The road, located southeast of Boone near U.S. Highway 30 and State Highway 17, is home to three businesses. Photo by Jon Lloyd

By Jon Lloyd

Staff Writer

Wicks Construction out of Decorah recently won the bid to pave 219th Lane with a low bid of $371,264.

Four companies submitted sealed bids to the Boone County Engineer’s Office, which will monitor the project that is expected to start in late May, according to County Engineer Bob Kieffer.

The half-mile long lane, which now has a gravel surface, is located just northwest of the intersection of U.S. Highway 30 and State Highway 17, near Dickcissel Park.

The lane, which will get paved with concrete, is home to three businesses: Harris Auto Racing, Boone Aeration and Environmental Corp/Boone Cableworks and Electronics and Midland Power Cooperative.

Last summer, Wicks Construction paved with concrete the two main roads in Boone Industrial Park, located off East Mamie Eisenhower Avenue and home to about a dozen business, including Fareway Stores.

Wicks also poured and paved the concrete on 1,500 feet of E Avenue in western Boone County. The road serves as the main entrance for the semi-tractor trailer trucks for AgReliant Genetics, Inc., the Indiana company that established its first Iowa seed corn production plant there last year.

Construct, Inc. of Ames submitted the high bid of $549,999, Kieffer said.

The lane was a state-owned frontage road running parallel to U.S. Highway 30, Kieffer said. The county took over the road via an agreement of transfer of public road jurisdiction, which was signed Wednesday by Boone County Auditor Philippe Meier.

According to the agreement, the state also provided $285,000 for the project, Kieffer said, adding that the three businesses will cover the rest of the project’s cost of $371,264.

“The businesses out there approached the board (of supervisors), and they were adamant they wanted the road paved somehow,” Kieffer said. “Actually, it’s a frontage road in the state’s right-of-way. Through a transfer of jurisdiction, the state is kicking a bunch of money in to get it done, and the businesses are paying the rest.”

The lane will get paved with nine inches of Portland “Class C” Cement over a six-inch granular sub-base, Kieffer said, adding that the project proposal has a late start date of May 20.

“If they don’t start by then, the county will begin subtracting days. They have 35 days to complete the project,” Kieffer said.

The project was designed by Kieffer’s department, which will also oversee the work.

“We did the design work,” he said. “That’s our contribution. And we will do the field inspection.”

The project will be completed in two stages, he said, with the western portion being completed first. Temporary gravel roads will be put in to allow access to the businesses, he said.

“Wicks will do a good job,” Kieffer said. “They did Industrial (Park) Road for us and I’m happy with that.”